I don't know the whole story but the A-10 is being upgraded. They have the
test aircraft at Eglin Air Force Base and the fly here every once in a while
to shoot some landings. The new aircraft has new avionics, better self
sealing fuel cells and a bunch of other stuff. They are one of the best
aircraft we ever built.

At one point the Air Force was going to mothball the A-10 fleet. The army
asked for all of the two seaters to be made into electronic warfare
platforms (to replace the long gone Mohawk). No way that was gonna happen.
Key West Accords call for the army to have little bitty utility aircraft,
not prima stuff. History intervened in the political fight and the A-10s
were needed to Gulf War I and you know the rest of the story.


"J.F." wrote in message
. ..
Its maiden flight was on 10 May 1972. It was first introduced in 1977.
They have built 715 of them at a cost of $9.8 million each. That was the
last reported cost in 1998. There are still 356 in service to date in
both active and reserve status. An awsome bird. I was stationed in Osan
Korea when Suweon AB opened in 1981-82. I remember scores of them coming
in to be statione there.